Little Red
by MoonlitRendezvous
Summary: AU. Basically 'Red Riding Hood' set in the Thor-verse. Mostly human, and (as always) Lokane.
1. Chapter 1

Little Red

Part 1

Long ago, in the Germanic Mountains existed the small village of Snow Haven. Surround by beautiful, rocky peaks and mysterious, dark forests, Snow Haven was virtually closed off from the outside world. So, while most of civilized Europe twittered on about discoveries made by Aquinas and Buridan, the people of Snow Haven clang tightly to superstitions and wives tales. This was well and good for most of the quaint villagers – most but not all. Jane Foster, youngest of the Foster clan at just seven and ten years of age, held the most inquisitive mind any of the locals had known in years.

"So like your grandfather," her paternal grandmother, the oldest living member of Snow Haven, would often say with a fond smile, "God rest his soul."

Jane's elder sister, Sif was not nearly as understanding. She, like many in the village, took a certain amount of offense to Jane's never ending questioning of things; one such thing being Wolf's Time. According to local lore, a large, ravenous wolf once roamed the forests surrounding Snow Haven. It was said to have hunted every month when the moon was full, killing people or livestock alike to sake it's blood thirst. For over thirty years, the people of Snow Haven had struck a sort of bargain with the beast, leaving their best animal out at Wolf's Time while every house barred their doors and windows closed, and for thirty years not a single human soul had suffered.

Of course Jane thought the notion ridiculous. Why, the very thought of a wolf wondering around the woods – supposedly as large as a house by some accounts – unnoticed for over thirty years! 'Sheer poppycock,' she thought with an irritated huff as she made her way home from collecting berries near the river that ran through the middle of the forest. She bit her lip nervously, brown eyes taking in how low the sun was getting in the horizon. In fact, the full moon had already begun to make itself visible!

"Sif's going to kill me," she whined worriedly, lifting up her dress so that she could quicken her pace and jump over logs unhindered. There was once a time, Jane recalled, when her sister would have joined in such frivolities as going into the woods for berries, or even trapping small game, but that was years ago before they'd lost their mother. 'Before Sif had to grow up,' she mentally corrected, thinking of how her beautiful, unwed sister practically labored around the house like a wife instead of a daughter. As Jane aged, she'd taken on some of the responsibilities, but Sif was currently entering her twentieth year and few men saw her as fertile anymore.

At least not here. Jane had tried several times to broach the subject of relocating to somewhere more civilized, but their papa would hear nothing of it. His mother lived here. His wife and forefathers were buried here – discussion permanently dismissed. "But don't you want to get away," she'd whispered to her sister once as they'd been making supper. Jane had watched Sif's back stiffen over the cauldron where she'd been adding bay leaves to the stew, her hand stilling momentarily.

"It doesn't work like that," she'd replied sadly. "We go where father goes, stay where he stays until we're wed. Then we submit to our husbands as we once did to our father."

The statement had upset the stubborn and intelligent Jane, to think she'd have to defer to someone so beneath her own intellect. It's not that she thought so highly of herself, mind you, it was merely that even at a young age Jane had understood how different her mind was to everyone else's around her. She'd understood things at eight that most would never, even if they lived to be her grandmother's age of eight and fifty (though few made it passed forty). Jane remembered kneading the bread a tab too aggressively that night.

"There you are," an agitated, yet relieved sigh caught Jane's ears. "Where have you been," her sister asked in an exasperated huff. "No, don't answer that," she said, dark eyes taking in the basket in Jane's hand, "I can see well enough you went into the forest _again_."

"Is that an accusation or a question," Jane smiled as they both hurried inside and barred the back door behind them.

"A statement," Sif volleyed right back, a slight smile on her lips. "I'd be more upset with you if I didn't know those berries were for my birthday."

"I was hoping to surprise you with a pie in the morning," Jane pouted slightly. "I already prepared the crust dough before you rose this morning, and I was going to bake it after you went to sleep."

"Well," Sif lightly consoled her sister, as she pulled her into a hug of gratitude, "I appreciated the thought and the effort, Jane, really I do. Why don't we go ahead and fix the pie now and we can serve it with supper? And as for a birthday gift, I'd settle for you staying out of those woods. It's not safe, especially on a full moon."

"But sister, the river is located in the middle of the woods," Jane pointed out. "And isn't one of my duties to fetch pails of water? If I'm to stay out of the forest, however will we make stews or do laundry or _bathe_? You wouldn't have your sister filthy, smelling like the Wilkersons, would you?"

A pearl of heartfelt laughter filled the room, and Sif tried desperately to catch her breath as she thought about the pig farmer's family down the road. "Heaven forbid," she snickered, trying and failing to suppress the sudden giddiness that filled her. "Honestly, Jane, sometimes you're too much. They can't help the way they smell."

"They could bathe more than once a month," Jane admonished with an impish grin. "Though I daresay they probably think we could bathe a mite less."

"Well it is a daily habit for us."

"As is cleaning our home with boiling water and lye," Jane huffed with fake annoyance. "Just as Grandmother has always done, and she's nearing sixty, Sif. Don't you want to live to see sixty?"

"Depends on the company," she quipped, ending the discussion as she finished setting the table while Jane began ladling stew from the cauldron into two wooden bowls.

"The hunting party's not back yet," Jane questioned, noticing Sif hadn't sat a place for their father.

Sif shook her head. "The larger animals have been heading further up the mountain. Papa said they might be gone a few months this time. We'll be alright," she assured her sister. "We have the bakery to run, and a house to keep in order. Besides, Papa taught us well in how to track and trap small game, and rabbits and squirrels are always in good supply here."

Jane nodded as she placed the bowls on the table and forced a small smile for her sister's sake as she sat down to eat. "There's something else we need to discuss, what with father being gone so long," Sif said hesitantly, setting a wooden cup of water in front of each bowl.

"Oh?"

"Before father left, the Odinsons' had approached him about the possibilities of arranging a match between yourself and Thor."

"But you like Thor," Jane blurted out. "I can't pursue anything with someone you love."

"Please, Jane, think of your family," Sif pleased, ignoring Jane's indignant 'I am'. "The Odinsons' are the wealthiest clansmen for miles around. An alliance with them could insure our survival for years to come."

"We've survived so far without them," she humphed. To be honest, Jane knew she could do much worse than Thor Odinson. The man was handsome, strong, and honest, which was more than could be said for some of the men she knew. And it would be a lie if Jane said she hadn't been expected such a proposal. She'd seen the puppy dog stares the man had been sending her way ever since she'd begun to fill out. But to marry before her sister, and to the very man Sif loved! "Don't think me so cruel," she gasped out as pain filled her chest, "to actually considering marrying him!"

"It's not cruel to consider it," her sister replied, pushing her food away untouched. "Thor does not want me, Jane. I've accepted this. Just as you must accept your good fortune that he does indeed want you. Say 'yes', Jane, for your family's sake."

"How long do I have to consider the offer?" Her throat felt as if it were closing up on her and her stomach was suddenly filled with heavy stones of dread.

"He will propose just as soon as he returns with father and the hunting party."

"So, perhaps another month then," she asked, her tension easing when Sif nodded her head. "Sister, I think I'll visit Grandmother tomorrow. Will you be alright here alone?"

"Of course I will," she scoffed off Jane's question. "Just help me at the bakery in the morning, and at lunch I'll send you on your way. I'm sure she'll be glad for the company. I heard some of the townsfolk saying she maybe ill."

Jane bit her lip at the news. Her Grandmother, ill? And she lived all alone in a cabin just inside the forest were few dared to go. "Perhaps I should spend the night with her then, if she's ill," Jane questioned as she readied herself for bed.

* * *

><p>The next morning started early for Jane. Guilt consumed her at the thought of leaving her sister to manage all the work for a few days, and so she rose before the sun and quietly started on her chores. So relentless and determined was Jane to somewhat ease Sif's workload, she'd actually managed to clean the whole house. In fact, after boiling water for her bath and pouring it (with many trips with one of the water pails) into the large wooden tub, Jane promptly refilled the cauldron and started on the laundry as she scrubbed away yesterday's filth, long before the first rays of sun graced the earth. Jane had dried and dressed quickly as well, fashioning her long wet hair into a single braid that fell down her back, before starting on breakfast and taking the washed laundry outside to hang dry under the autumn sun's warmth.<p>

With an exhausted sigh, Jane re-entered the home, empty laundry basket in hand, to see Sif pulled their breakfast bread from the brick shelf above the fire place. "Didn't burn it, did I?"

"No," her sister replied sweetly, "it's just right." Sif then placed the bread onto the kitchen table and began opening the windows for the day. "My sister, what time did you wake? It seems you've done a whole weeks' worth of tasks!"

"I don't want my absence to leave you over whelm," Jane admitted sheepishly. "But if Grandmother truly is sick, as those gossips claim, then I must stay with her until she is well."

"Of course you must," Sif agreed quickly. "If only she'd consent to stay with us instead of out there alone, but she's stubborn –"

"Just as we both are," Jane pointed out good-naturedly.

"Indeed," her sister smiled. "Best be on our way to the shop, those sweets aren't going to make themselves. Oh, and Jane, don't forget to bring some fresh bread with you to Grandmother's."

"Of course not," she lightly admonished. "What kind of heathen do you take me for?"

* * *

><p>Work was busy yet calming for Jane, as always. Sif was the one that handled customers for the most part, leaving Jane in the kitchen to create to her heart's content. Today, knowing she'd be leaving her sister to work alone the remainder of the day, as well as the next, she doubled the usual quota to insure Sif had the least amount of hassle possible.<p>

"Jane," her sister called to her when the sun rose high in the sky, "it's half day. Why don't you wash the flour off your face and pack some things for Grandmother?"

She did as her sister beckoned, and then made certain there was nothing further she could do. "Honestly," Sif smiled, "I'll be fine – better if I know you're there to care for Grandmother. If you are so insistent on helping me, however-"

"I am," she assured, and Sif handed her a basket of sweet rolls that needed delivering to the Wilkersons' farm. It was along the path way towards the forest anyway, so Jane quickly agreed, giving Sif a hug before slipping on her pale brown cloak to fight against any autumn chill.

Happily she hurried along her way, carefully dodging random mud puddles as she went. Soon she approached the little hut the Wilkersons' called home, but received no answer when she knocked upon the door. Pursing her lips, Jane fought against the urge she felt to reach her Grandmother and her duty to insure the sweet rolls remained safe for the famer's family. If she just left them in front of the door, anything could happen to them and Jane wasn't about to let her family's reputation suffer from her laziness. Thinking that perhaps Mr. Wilkerson or his son, William, might be around back with the livestock, Jane took a deep breath to gather her patience and went around towards the pig barn.

Her feet fumbled reluctantly as a strange sound could be heard the closer she came to the barn. At first she thought perhaps someone was injured, but then her stomach began to feel queasy and her body warm as she pressed on her way. She was just outside of the barn now, the weird grunting noise was clearly hear, as was something that sounded oddly like flesh being smacked.

"W-William, hmm," the district voice of Darcy Lewis said in a strangely breathy way. "More… Oh! More…"

'What on earth…' Jane thought to herself at William Wilkerson's answering groan.

"So damned tight," he heaved out in between labored breaths, and Jane swallowed thickly as she crept along to find a secretive place to spy upon the pair.

It's not that she was particularly nosy, it's just she'd never heard the like and it raised her curiosity something fierce. Finally she'd stumbled along a knot hole in one of the wood planks that made up the barn, and quickly she'd gazed in. Pulling back abruptly from shock, Jane blinked a few times and tried to make sense of what she'd seen. Licking her lips, Jane lowered her head down to gaze through the knot hole once more.

Again she saw blond haired William, naked as the day he was born with an equally as naked Darcy Lewis. Darcy, she noticed was wiggling underneath William, her thighs spread and legs wrapped firmly around his waist as her hands lewdly grabbed and twisted her own breasts. "Don't you want to taste them," she taunted the man who was thrusting steadily inside her sacred region.

William groaned again, but bent over her to suckle on her breast like a new born babe all the same. Darcy's back arched off the ground then, her breasts pressing more firmly against his face and her hips began moving in quicker movements. "I'm gonna… Oh… Oh!"

"I know," he panted out, his hips moving to keep pace with Darcy's.

"Not inside," she moaned out before she screamed out loud and stilled – her body first tense and then seemed to relax. William had stilled as well, but hadn't tensed as Darcy had. As soon as her body had relaxed, he pulled away from her and stood up. Jane's eyes widened as she looked at a male's organ for the first time – and it was so stiff and long!

"Looks like you needn't worry about pregnancy this time, Miss Darcy," William's voice said roughly as his right hand encircled and stroked his erection. "But now there's the problem of where I'm going to plant my seed. Should I cover those breasts of yours and lick it off? Should I penetrate that other tight little hole of yours? No chance of children there, my little harlot."

"Let me taste you," Darcy nearly pleaded as she weakly pushed herself up on to her knees. "I want to feel apart of you run down my throat."

"Damn if you don't have a filthy little mouth. Alright then," William agreed, thrusting his cock teasingly towards Darcy's awaiting mouth, "but no teeth."

Jane's eyes widened as she watched transfixed, as Darcy's hands and mouth brought the man to orgasm. It was only as the man's now flaccid cock was slipping from the woman's lips that she pulled away. Silently, she walked back towards the front of the Wilkersons' house and placed the basket of sweet rolls on an open window's seal and went on her way, desperately ignoring the strange tingling sensations in her neither regions as she walked onward towards her Grandmother's cabin.

Breathing in the fresh air of the forest, Jane tried to forget the sinful act she'd witnessed between William and Darcy – and especially how it had affected her. Would a man ever desire to do such things to her? Did Thor? She shuttered unpleasantly at the thought of his meaty paws gripping her hips as he pounded his organ inside her, using her as a human equivalent of a brood mare. It was this unease that reassured Jane that she was nothing like Darcy Lewis. She could never envision herself rubbing against a man like a cat in heat as the raven haired woman had. It was crass and ungodly, and just so heathen! And yet… some small, unspeakable part of Jane wanted to find a man that would make her want to act the way Darcy had.

"God forgive me," she whispered, but she honestly didn't feel at all repentant for that desire.

* * *

><p>AN: This is for a friend of mine who is obsessed with werewolves. The bases of this fic is from the 2011 _Red Riding Hood_ film, and from varies versions of the fairytale, as well as my own distorted imagination. It will be very short, perhaps four or five chapters at most, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. Loki will be joining us next chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and your patience. Here's the second installment, in Loki's pov as promised. I hope you enjoy. I did rush it out, so please forgive any typos. Let me know, and I'll correct them asap.

* * *

><p>Little Red<p>

Part 2

When Loki Laufeyson arrived in Snow Haven from the town of Blithe nearly a month ago, he hadn't really expected to find that which he was sent for. The official reason was to look after his maternal aunt, Frigga, and keep her safe from the beast that hunted the surrounding forests while his cousin, Thor, and his uncle-by-marriage, Odin, traveled with the hunting party up the mountain for bigger game. His father had an entirely different reason for sending him however. Loki's mother had passed away nearing five years ago, and Laufey was growing impatient for grandchildren. Since Loki firmly refused to marry any woman from Blithe, Laufey had sent his son back to the obscure village of their birth to search for his true mate.

"It won't be easy living with wolf hunters," Laufey had warned. "Take extra care, and resist your urge for trickery, my son."

As Loki had sworn, he'd done his best. There were times when Thor had grown curious as to Loki's speed or agility, but the werewolf had managed to play it down to simply lacking the muscle bulk that Thor possessed. Two weeks after Loki had arrived and one week before the hunting party had left, something wondrous and yet awful happened.

Since his arrival, Loki had scented hints of something divine in the air of Snow Haven. He'd instantly longed to track it, but with the villagers milling about in the town square muddling it up, it was all but impossible. On that fateful day, however, Thor had managed to convince his father of his intent to wed one of the Foster girls. Loki had, of course, been certain the blond oaf had meant the elder daughter, who was still unattached, but in a blatant disregard for tradition, the man had announced his desire for the younger of the two. Thor's insistence for Jane Foster was one of the only things Loki could recall father and son of the Odinson family every disagreeing on – rather loudly at that. Being the only oddity he could find in this small little village, he began finding himself watching Jane to see if he couldn't place what was so special about her. For the first few days, it was only in passing as he went about tasks for his aunt. On the third day, however, Frigga had had Loki escort her to the village bakery, where he found that elusive and divine scent that had been teasing him coated the place with heavy abundance. But was it the elder or the younger daughter's, he wondered.

That night, after the Odinson household was fast asleep; Loki transformed under the moon's light and went to the Foster's home. Again the divine scent his wolf recognized as his mate's cloaked the area thickly, but the other scents were so closely intermingled, it was difficult to separate them. He'd decided the next day to watch the eldest sister more closely, since she was more his own age of twenty and five. Thor's beloved Jane, though lovely in every way, was certainly still more child than woman – or so he told himself.

He'd risen the next morning fully intent on watching Sif, when a small, cloaked figure in the distance heading into the forest had caught his attention. Grey eyes squinted as he tried to get a better look at the figure, but to no avail. With a soft growl and a cautionary glance around, Loki went about following the mysterious stranger. He grinned as he gave into a stealthy chase. His observatory prey was both lithe and nearly silent as they rushed through his forest, and the werewolf relished in the simple pleasure of giving into his baser self.

He could tell by the way the figure would pause every-so-often, their body dropping close to the ground before promptly straightening back up and moving again that this person was tracking something. '_Ah, hunting a hunter,'_ Loki grinned to himself as he fought off his transformation, stayed a few paces behind, and slyly ducked around trees. Then it happened, the figure stiffened and removed the bow that was a crossed their back, taking an arrow out of their quiver as well, and prepared to take aim at a straggling elk.

Most of the larger animals had fled further up the mountain the moment Loki had stepped foot into Snow Haven, instinctually knowing his true nature. Now, watching this hunter take aim at one of the only large game animals left in the forest, Loki was both impressed and slightly fearful. If they could track this lone creature with such ease, what hope had he of escaping them when his wolf form left such large tracks? It was obvious by the mere fact they were here, in _his_ forest, alone that they were fearless. If this particular prey didn't fear him, he'd have no choice but to kill them to ensure his survival – though he loathed the idea of killing any human.

The wind shifted as the huntsman released his arrow and struck down the elk. Loki could now smell that this huntsman was in fact a huntress, and not any huntress at that. "Mate," he growled softly to himself, swallowing thickly and closing his eyes as a wolfish gold invaded his usual grey. The beast within him wanted out, wanted to claim her now. "No," he whispered, fighting it back, sweat beading across his brow, "not now."

Normally the alpha blood that coursed through his veins would grant him absolute control over his baser form, but the presence of their mate and the sound of an approaching mountain wolf, drawn by the fresh scent of elk's blood, left him as vulnerable as a bitten cur. Clamping his top teeth over his bottom lip, Loki ignored the blood dribbling down his chin as he attempted to muffle the sounds of pain from fighting against the transformation. He wanted to speak to her, to see her face and finally know her name, not frighten her away with his hellish form. But the knowledge that she was in danger over ran every other instinct in his body.

'_Protect,'_ the wolf growled inside his mind, _'claim.'_

And Loki was left powerless to argue. With a silenced roar he held tightly within his throat, he shifted from a man into an animal. His lupine eyes glancing just in time to see the feral beast pull back his lips and growl at his mate – _his_! A vicious sound left him then and the huntress fell backwards onto her bottom, her cloak's hood slipping off to reveal caramel tresses as her head made contact with the forest's floor. Sparing a glance to make certain she was unharmed, though apparently unconscious, he leaped out from behind the cover of trees to land in front of her with an equally as fierce expression. His mate didn't stir, the stillness of her form and the shallowness of her breathing added to his wolf's growing frustration.

'_Protect,'_ the wolf growled internally again, '_claim_.'

The ravenous wolf charged forward then, risking it's life to attack the enormous werewolf in hopes of retrieving the slaughtered elk. Loki's beast was in no mood to allow either mate or her kill to be lost to the creature before him, and surged forward. For several minutes they snapped, growled, and gnawed at each other, each unwilling to admit defeat. Loki, whose main concern was to protect the girl, spent most of the time on defense, hoping the smaller creature would concede him the victory and flee. He'd underestimated how strong hunger could be as a motivator however, and how obvious he'd been in his efforts to protect his mate.

Panting heavily, the mountain wolf had faked a lunge towards the dead elk, only to change direction at the last second, slipping underneath Loki's furry body and sinking his fowl teeth into the girl's tender arm flesh.

Enraged, Loki had let out a fearsome sound before grabbing the pathetic creature by the scruff of his neck and flinging him into the nearest tree as hard as possible. The creature yelped upon contact, the tree cracking from the force of the throw as the wolf's limp body fell to the ground. The threat now neutralized, Loki turned his lupine head to take in his unconscious and injured mate. Stepping towards her, he did his best in his current form to assess her wounds, going so far as to lick the mountain wolf's teeth marks until his saliva had not only cleaned the married flesh, but had begun to nit it back together.

"Oh, love," he sighed out softly, his naked body leaning over the girl as he took in the sight of her for the first time as a man. Internally, Loki argued with himself, but eventually lifted who he now recognized as Jane Foster into his arms and carried her quickly to her grandmother's cabin a short distance away in the woods. Once there, he'd laid her down in front of the door and knocked urgently before running a short distance and ducking behind some trees, where he watched until the old woman had brought her safely inside. He'd returned for his mate's elk, again carrying it to her grandmother's home and knocking on the door before hiding further along in the forest. Loki had returned to the Odinson's late that night, having washed any blood off in the river, but lacking any spare clothes in the forest into which to cover his nakedness.

Having found out Jane Foster was his mate had filled Loki with a joy he'd not know since his mother's passing, but also knowing Thor – a wolf hunter – wanted her for his own… It's nearly drove him to madness. He'd tried to sway the muscle bound blond towards the elder sister under the guise of proprieties sake, but Thor would hear none of it.

"Jane Foster is the loveliest woman for miles," he'd defended his choice. "Not to mention one of the finest cooks. She'd keep a good house, Loki, make a fine wife, and I'll hear nothing more on the matter."

So it was the day before the hunting party embarked on their journey up the mountain that Thor, with Loki and Odin as witnesses, had cornered Erik, the girl's father, and stated his proposal for Jane's hand. Of course Erik had been concerned over Sif, but in the end the old codger had grinned and said, "if you can convince my Jane to wed you, then you may have her!"

Thor, the witless oaf, had smiled his blindingly bright smile and clapped the patriarch of the Foster family on the back roughly. "Consider it done then," he'd boasted loudly, and quite happily.

Loki had felt as if stones had settled into his stomach until a little more than a week after the hunting party had left. His Jane had been in his forest again – _alone_, he grinned – and Loki had done his best to keep an eye on her as she'd picked berries down by the river. It had been late by the time they'd arrived back into the village, and Loki had hidden as soon as he'd caught scent of Sif growing closer. The two girls had talked a bit as they hurried into their home, locking the doors and windows as wolf's time drew near.

It was later on that night, after the initial pain from his transformation had passed, that he regained enough conscious thought to process the words his mate and her sister were exchanging – and they were about Thor! His mate, it seemed, was entirely opposed to marrying his cousin. In fact, she stated that she wouldn't even consider the idea of it! '_Bless you,'_ he'd thought, the heavy weight he'd been carrying around lifting instantly.

He'd slept soundly that night, both beast and man, fully planning on officially introducing himself to his Jane the next day. His hope was to woo the youngest Foster and wed her before Thor even returned; or if not wed, then at the very least openly courting one another. Of course with her father currently absent, he'd need the grandmother's permission to call on Jane – it was only proper protocol after all. But first, he needed to lay his ground work…


	3. Chapter 3

Little Red

Part 3

'Jane,' a voice called to her from inside her mind, a masculine voice whose call was so absolute it allowed no arguments. 'Jane, come to me… Jane…'

Jane Foster did her best to block out the sound and focus on caring for her ailing grandmother during the day, but at night – oh, at night – the call became so much stronger, so much less ignorable, she nearly lost herself to it countless times. She'd find herself awake at night, her body shaking from all her effort to dismiss the voice that spoke to her. Jane had always considered herself brighter than most, pushing away superstitions and blind religious faith for her science, but this… Oh, it had to be the very devil the good book talked of!

"The devil has cursed me," she mumbled to herself one morning, a week after she'd first arrived at her grandmother's cabin to care for her, "but why has God allowed it?" In her innocents, Jane could only assume it was punishment for the perversity she'd bared witness to in the Wilkerson's barn between William and Darcy Lewis, or perhaps it was punishment for the things she'd felt afterwards? For it was then, she recalled, that the dreams began. Erotic dreams of passion and heated desire between her and a man whose only feature she could make out in the darkness was yellow eyes. He'd take her until she was possessed with lust and, as they climaxed together, he'd sink his teeth into her neck. Then she'd see her reflection, whether in a window's glass or the river's water, her own yellow eyes staring back at her. It was always enough, on the few occasions she did sleep anymore, to wake her – heart beating wildly, left arm burning, and sweat coating her body.

Sif had come to visit her once, two days after she'd first arrived to see to their grandmother, and given the state of the elderly woman's health, encouraged Jane to stay.

"Frigga Odinson's nephew from Blithe is staying with her while the other menfolk are off in the hunting party," her sister had said kindly. "I'll see if he wouldn't mind lending you some extra firewood until she's well."

Jane was going to argue, but a tiny knot of desperation tightened in her stomach as her gaze cast towards her grandmother's room. "I'll fix him lunch," were the words that left her mouth instead.

So it was, a day later Loki Laufeyson wondered out to the little cabin in the woods, and knocked gently on its door. His grey eyes seemed to take Jane in before a smirk somewhere between friendly and lecherous pulled at his lips. Her first instinct was the slam the door in his face, or maybe slap him, she wasn't certain, but Jane instead fell back on her social graces and opened the door wider for him. It took him three trips outside the cabin and back to pile all the wood he'd brought in a corner by the hearth.

Conversation that first visit was minimal, despite how handsome Jane found him and how obviously charming he was being. She found she had an irresistible urge to tell him anything and everything but her stubbornness made her hold her tongue. The next time he arrived, however, he spun fascinating tells of his travels and of life in the city of Blithe. He told her of his love and loss of his mother, and of his loving but strict father. He told her of his friends and then he revealed his father's secret hope for sending him to Snow Haven to find a bride.

"A wife," Jane questioned in disbelief as they sat in front of the living room's fireplace. On that particular day it had decided to snow, and so Jane had offered for Loki to stay a bit after lunch to warm himself before heading back into the village. Currently, they were seated before the hearth, barely an inch apart, on top of some old bear and elk furs, a blue knitted woolen blanket wrapped around their shoulders.

Loki nodded his head, staring into the fire and swallowing thickly before chancing a glance back at the girl next to him. "Forgive me if this is too forward," he said, his eyes suddenly very intense as he locked them with hers, "but I think you're that girl, Jane."

"What," she sputtered out in shock.

"Marry me," he almost demanded, his large, slender hands reaching out to claim hers with their warmth. "Please, Jane," he said softly, with something desperate in his eyes that made her sacred regions clench.

"I," she started but faltered. "There is another who has asked for my hand," Jane revealed reluctantly. "He went off with the hunting party before I could answer." Before she was ever officially asked, more like, but she wasn't about to claim semantics. "I believe I should properly reply to his proposal before I accept yours."

Loki's eyes had dimmed, then began to harden as she'd talked, but upon reaching the end of her explanation, his grey orbs had brightened and snapped back to hers. "Accept," a true smile stretching across his face. "Do you really mean it, Jane?"

She found his happiness infectious, her own lips spreading into a wide grin as she nodded her head. "I do," she all but giggled. The faint sound of her grandmother's cough from the next room sobered her quickly from her giddiness. "Loki," she started, not certain what she was going to ask when the swift movement of his tongue wetting his lips caught her attention.

"Yes, Jane?"

She swallowed, her eyes not moving from his lips as she desperately fought back the brazen impulse that had suddenly seemed to possess her.

"Ja-" he'd began to question again, only to be cut off as her lips collided with his own.

* * *

><p>She was kissing him.<p>

His mate.

His Jane.

_His._

Loki groaned, his hands moving to wrap one around her waist, and the other in her hair. He temporarily lost himself in the smell of her, the feel of her, the taste… Saints preserve him, the taste of her! Already, he could tell his little spit fire was accepting their bound, was ready for him to claim her even. Her little hands, even now, were pulling him down on top of her as she laid back against the furs before the hearth, her legs unconsciously bending to hook around his hips to align their clothed arousals.

"Jane," he whispered huskily between hungry kisses, his insides turning with fear at the moment he'd need to open his eyes again. The wolf was too close to the surface, there was no way for him to disguise their lupine glow. "Jane."

"Hmm," she murmured distractedly in responds, her lips trailing down his neck, her teeth nipping playfully. He made a noise, somewhere between a growl and a purr, his hips bucking against her once of their own accord. She moaned, his name ripped from her throat as her head fell back, exposing her neck to him. The whole thing was so surreal, so erotic, Loki feared he might embarrass himself. Then her eyes opened, those lovely deep pools of melted chocolate, and looked into his own and widened.

"You," she exclaimed. "You're the man with the yellow eyes!"

Loki felt instantly sobered, and pulled back to observe her with a forced coldness. "I am," he stated plainly, mentally preparing himself for the heartache that was bound to come from her refusal of him. Of course she wouldn't marry him now, he thought bitterly. Why settle for a beast when she could marry his handsome oaf of a cousin? He wouldn't stop her, he decided, he loved her too much to intentionally cause her any form of distress.

"You're…you're the wolf," her soft voice question, shock evident as she spoke. "Wolf's Time isn't just a silly superstition then?"

"It was made during the time of my grandfather and father," he admitted. "And no, no one save you knows what I am. Well, no mortals on any account."

"But you've told me," she asked.

He nodded, forcing himself to stand when all he wanted to do was bury himself again in her warm, soft heat. "And this is where I leave you, Jane Foster," his said, his voice sounding too hard even to his own ears.

"Wait," she called after him as he left her there in her grandmother's cabin. "Loki, wait!"

He heard her voice, the sheer panic in it, but forced himself to turn away and ran as fast as his legs would carry him before his transformation. The wolf was wild that night, and fierce. He killed every sacrifice left for him, and even decimated a few flocks of sheep left unattended in the fields, stopping only when he realized he wasn't angry. No, he admitted as he transformed back and washed the blood away in the river, he was heartbroken.

* * *

><p>AN: Am currently working on the next (and final) part. Hopefully it will be up sometime between later today and Monday. You guys have been amazing. Thanks for reading, and if you see any typos let me know and I'll fix them!


	4. Chapter 4

Little Red

Part 4

Jane had been devastated when Loki had left her there at her grandmother's cabin that night. To think the hidden man with the strange yellow eyes she'd been dreaming of and the intelligent, charming man she'd found herself unexplainable drawn to were one and the same! She'd never been an impulsive girl, but she'd known as soon as he'd posed the question, she'd wanted to be his wife. The fact that he considered himself a beast didn't change that, though she knew it should. Now, she just had to convince him of that.

So it was with a glad heart that Jane left for the village two days later, when her grandmother had assured her she was well enough to tend to herself. "Won't you come stay with us," she'd asked out of a sense of love and duty, but was happy when the old woman politely refused. After all, she reasoned, sneaking out to see Loki when only Sif was present was much easier than sneaking out when Sif and her grandmother were there. Of course, she stopped by the Odinson house on her way home, but as she'd suspected, Loki wasn't anywhere to be found.

"He was very kind going out of his way for my grandmother," she smiled to Frigga Odinson. "I just wanted to repay him in some way. If you could tell him I'd like to see him at his earliest convince?"

A knowing glint had entered the woman's eyes as she'd listened to Jane, but her soft smile had never wavered, and had therefore not caused Jane any alarm. The full three days she'd been home without so much as a glimpse of her wolf-man, however, distressed her to no end. Was he purposely avoiding her or had he left Snow Heaven all together?

Jane had all but ordered her sister to go home a bit early that night "to rest". "After all," she had reasoned, "you've managed the house and the bakery all by yourself for over a fortnight while I was tending to grandmother. You've earned it," she added with a warm smile when Sif had finally relented and left her to clean the bakery alone. Jane had decided either Loki was going to see her (which he wouldn't do with her sister around) or she was going to see him. "If you're in Snow Heaven," she mumbled to herself, "this foolishness ends tonight!"

After two hours of preparing dough for the next day and cleaning up the store, Loki still hadn't appeared. Squaring her shoulders, Jane packed a basket of assorted breads and sweet rolls left over from the day (the rest would be sold at half price the following morning), and headed towards the Odinson's home. Her tentative knock was answered by not Loki, but Thor, his inquisitive expression changing to a pleased one upon seeing her.

"Jane," his voice boomed loudly as he ushered her inside. "A bit late for a social call," he teased as he lead her towards were the family was gathered in front of the fireplace.

"Well, as your mother knows," she started, sending a smile towards Frigga, "your cousin was quite a help to my grandmother for the past few weeks while she was ill. I'd hoped to thank him properly –"

"Hasn't he been to see you," Frigga interrupted, a frown marring her gentle features. "I told him you came to call days ago."

"I'm afraid not," she held her smile, though her confidence honestly felt more than a little deflated, "that's why I've come. I've only just closed up shop, you see, and thought I'd at least bring something for him." Jane motioned towards her basket, which Frigga had Thor place on the table behind them.

"You're more than welcome to stay," she offered kindly. "He shouldn't be much longer."

"Besides there's something I've been wanting to discuss with you," Thor cut in with a wide grin.

"Yes, I've heard."

"Have you," he laughed warmly.

"Yes, and I don't think I can accept," she told him directly, hating herself a little as Thor's joyful face fell into a mixture of confusion and pain. "Please understand that my sister loves you," she explained gently. "I couldn't be so cruel as to not only marry before her, but to the man she loves far more than I ever could. You're a good man, Thor," she added softly, "but unless it's to Sif, you'll not be wedding a Foster."

The blond was silent for a long while, then suddenly turned and headed for the front door. "Come father," he called, "I'm in need of a witness."

"Oh," the old man called out, a slight smirk on his face as he stood, kissing his wife's cheek as he did so.

Thor nod, his jaw set in determination. "I have a Foster to propose to," he replied, sending Jane a tentative smile as he left.

Frigga laughed good-naturedly, shaking her head as the men left before turning her eyes on the girl before her. "You love him," she stated firmly, "you love my nephew."

Jane blushed and looked away. "Is it that obvious?"

"Only to me," she assured softly. "Men tend to be a bit dense about these things. My own son didn't recognize his feels for your sister until you just revealed hers to him," she pointed out. "Loki, like his father, can be stubborn and hard headed. If I were you, I'd talk to him soon, before the news of an Odinson-Foster wedding reaches his ears and he draws the wrong conclusion."

"I wouldn't know where to look," she sighed out in disappear.

"Why don't you try the woods?"

Jane's brown eyes widened at that, her breath caught in her throat. Frigga knew, she realized, the woman knew and hadn't told a soul out of love for her kin, her nephew. "Alright," she agreed with a nod, turning on her feet as quickly as she could.

* * *

><p>Loki laid upon his back on the forest floor staring at the moon, his heart too despondent to even allow his beastly transformation. He closed his steely eyes, and lost himself again in the memories of his brief moments of bliss with his mate. He'd almost had her, he recalled. He could have rutted with her and made her his all the days of her life, but he hadn't. For the first time he could remember, Loki Laufeyson had done the honorable thing by revealing his true nature before binding himself to Jane, and look at what it had gotten him!<p>

A high pitched whine left his throat as his broken heart squeezed within his chest. He'd forced himself to stay until the hunting party had returned, and was planning on leaving within the next few days. He knew Jane wouldn't be returning to the village until her grandmother was well, but he hadn't planned for that to be two days after revealing his true nature to her. He wasn't ready for the look of disgust he'd see on her face, wasn't ready to feel the sting of hate-filled words as they left her lovely mouth, and Loki seriously doubted he ever would be. He'd taken shelter in the woods during the day, under the pretense of gathering enough lumber to last the family through the quickly approaching winter. For nearly a week now he'd done so, forcing himself to work harder after Frigga had mentioned that Jane had come a calling.

"Best not to get one's hopes up," he muttered to himself, reminding himself that now that Thor had returned home with the rest of the hunting party, Jane and the oaf were bound to be busy planning their nuptials.

'_And I'll be damned if I stay here for that!'_

"Loki," a voice called from just a few paces away. A soft, feminine voice he'd recognize anywhere.

"If it isn't my cousin-to-be," he answered, pushing himself up off the ground. "What can I do for you?"

"Loki," she sighed out, as if she thought he were being difficult – and perhaps he was.

"What are you doing here," he growled out a bit harsher, his eyes still refusing to look at her as he righted his clothes and slapped the dirt away gently.

"Why are you avoiding me," she countered, and he could hear her feet drawing her closer to him.

Loki steeled his resolve enough to send her a quick glare. "I'm not having this discussion with my cousin's fiancée," he snapped out.

"No," she spat out just as heatedly, "you're having it with yours!"

_Yours_.

His eyes closed at the sound of that word from her mouth. It wrapped around him teasingly, tempting the most primal pieces of himself until realization brought him back to himself. "Mine," he questioned, lifted a black eyebrow.

Jane nodded her head stiffly. "You asked me to marry you. I accepted," she stated in a way that sounded more like a challenge.

"And then you realized what a monster I am and the mighty hunter came home for you to cozy up to," he snarled out in self-loathing.

"No," she argued softly. "I don't think you're a monster, Loki."

"I saw the way you looked at me that night! I saw how you reacted to my eyes," he bellowed, his grey orbs hardening as he continued to watch her closely.

"I was in shock!"

"So you admit it," he cried out, his heart breaking even as a victorious gleam entered his eyes. He may be losing his mate, but he took a form of perverse delight in winning the argument.

"I admit to being surprised," Jane shouted out. "I'd just discovered I'd been dreaming about you for weeks!"

"You…you what," he sputtered, words failing him as he fought back the hope that was filling his chest.

"Loki," she said his name softly, and he found himself stepping towards her cautiously, much like the wounded animal he was. "I'd been having dreams of a man with no face and yellow eyes," she explained. "In the dreams, he would make me like him-"

"How?"

She swallowed, a blush filling her face. "He'd take me… carnally, and then he'd-"

"Bite you," he finished for her, taking a deep breath at her whispered 'yes'. "You were having the mating dreams," he told her, his hands reaching out for her. "Do you… do you truly not find me repulsive?"

"I would have let you take me that day," she admitted with a timid smile, "yellow eyes and all."

The wolf howled at that, the man cried out as he drew her into his arms and against his chest, his mouth seeking hers desperately. He was afraid she'd pull away in disgust, but his Jane used her own hands to draw him in closer. He reveled in the soft, mewing noises that came from her, and in the sweet scent of her growing desire. "Mine," he murmured a few times, his passion growing every time she rushed to agree with him.

Their mutual need for each other grew so quickly, Loki honestly couldn't say when they'd been divested of their clothing or how he'd come to be leaning over his Jane, the forest floor beneath her naked body, with his erect member rubbing teasingly against her dripping wetness. "Ye gods, Jane," he gasped out, pulling his mouth from hers long enough to catch his breath.

"Don't think," she cooed to him softly, her desire darkened eyes causing a drunk and heady feeling to fill him, "just be with me."

He swallowed thickly, his breath coming out in deep, labored pants, and then he surged his hips forward, stilling himself once his member was fully sheathed inside Jane's heat. "I'm sorry," he whispered at her pain-filled cry from losing her maidenhead. She consoled him that she'd be fine, and after a few moments of stillness, she did eventually begin to roll her hips against him.

"Minx," he hissed out, losing himself in their bodies' primal dance. Loki loved the way his Jane moved against him, her arms and legs constantly seeking ways to pull them closer together, as if she were attempting to merge their very flesh together.

"Please," she begged him as she grew close to her peak, back arched with her breasts pressed against his own chest and her head tilted to expose her neck to him. "Please," she whispered again. "I love you."

The beast within him roared fiercely and leaned forward to sink his teeth into her neck's flesh. Jane cried out in pleasure, her sex clenching around his own, milking every bit of seed from him. He removed his mouth from her, licking her wound a few times until it healed, long before she'd come down from her joyous high. "Loki," she moaned huskily when she had returned to herself, "will you stay with me?"

"Forever," he promised, rolling off of her and pulling her sweat-laced body against his own. "I will have to return to Blithe soon," he cautioned, relaxing when he felt Jane's lips pull into a smile against his bare chest.

"Wait until after the wedding, and I'll happily go with you."

"Wedding," he questioned, feeling his mate nod her head.

"I confronted Thor before I came out here," she told him. "He's asked for Sif's hand."

"Did he now," Loki teased, already feeling his member hardening again with his naked mate near him. "So he wouldn't mind if I took you again."

"You can take me as many times as you'd like," Jane replied cheekily, "as I don't honestly see it's anyone's business but our own."

"Spoken like a true Laufeyson, which you will be before we reach Blithe."

"Promises, promises," she jested, before they lost themselves once again in more pleasurable activities.

* * *

><p>The Odinson-Foster wedding was a quick affair, taking place just shy of a month after the hunting party had returned to the village. Sif was ecstatic as much about Jane's wedding news as she was for her own. Erik Foster, however, wasn't nearly as pleased that his youngest daughter would be leaving Snow Heaven. He held his tongue only out of his love for her, and from the knowledge that Jane had always craved a city life. "Take care of her, Laufeyson," he growled out as threateningly as he could.<p>

Loki nodded in acknowledgement, one hand circling around Jane's waist to pull her against him. "Always, sir." And he'd meant it.

They'd headed off a few days before the first snow fall, and found themselves having to take refuge in a town close to Blithe until the weather cleared. It was there they were wed, if for no other reason than to protect Jane's honor as a lady. To say Laufey was happy once they finally reached Blithe would be an understatement. The news Loki whispered to him that night, however, was easily the best present the old wolf-man could ever ask for.

"Are you certain, my son," he'd asked, his lupine eyes glowing with glee.

"I am," he assured, his happiness every bit as palpable as his father's. "I've kept quiet for a few days to make certain. There has definitely been a change in her scent," he grinned. "I'm going to be a father."

Laufey watched as his son went off to his mate's side, scooping her into his arms and smiled to himself. This was all he'd ever wanted for his child, to see him as happy as Laufey had been with the boy's mother. Soon, he chuckled to himself, his house would once again be filled with the foot falls of little ones rushing about. Just as soon, he'd need to step down from the position of pack alpha, passing the reign on to Loki – just as Loki would one day pass it down to his son. Their pack was safe, it would continue.

"Bless you, Jane Foster," he murmured to himself, smiling at the way her eyes stared adoringly at his son. "Bless you."


End file.
